Sunday Morning - Off to visit Wats (Temples)
I decided to try out my GPS and explore the less visited Wats around Chiang Mai.
After a 20 minute drive I arrived at Wat Umong. Located in a grove Wat U-Mong (Tunnel Temple) is a practicing meditation temple. The origins of the temple, which are traced to the 14th century, are obscure. The temple may have been founded by King Mangrai himself to accommodate some forest monks from Sri Lanka.
I met a man and his nephew when I entered the Wat and enjoyed talking to him as we walked around the Wat. They were from Ban Luang in the province of Nan about 300 kilometers east of Chiang Mai in the mountains. He was even nice enough to invite me to stay at his home if I should visit Nan.
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Wat Umong is unique as it's built in the foothills of Suthep mountain and is still heavily forested.
But the most unique feature of the temple are the tunnels which give the wat its name (umong is the Thai word for "tunnel"). The temple and its tunnels were built in the late 14th century.
Naga on the stairs going up to the chedi. The Naga guard the chedi!
The main Chedi at the Wat...
Buddhadhasa Bhikkhu, one of Thailand's most celebrated 20th century monks. His statue stands on an islet in the lake to the south of the chedi. The Venerable favored the natural environment of the forest over human construction. As a result the modest temple buildings are surrounded by trees.
Around the entrance of the chedi there is an area that people bring artifacts and old small statues of buddha and other buddhist symbols.
Sunday must be laundry day! I guess "monks" don't have a problem in the morning deciding what to wear........
Buddhist can earn "merits" by releasing fish and turtles into temple lakes. The young man is on his way to feed the fish!
The monks are very friendly and always willing to talk to you so that they can improve their English!
After leaving Wat Umong I headed for the S.W. side of Chiang Mai to visit Wiang Kum Kam one of many fortified cities constructed by King Mengrai. Nearly 20 temple sites have been uncovered in the area, which lies between the Ping River and the Lamphun Highway, south of Mahidol Road. The buildings were buried under ground by years of flooding, which apparently is the reason Mengrai eventually moved his capital to Chiang Mai. .
Wat E-Kang (monkey wat) was still being excavated and restored. Wat E-Kang was once covered with sand, but only its pagoda emerged from the land. The temple has been named as E-Kang because many monkeys used to reside here. This excavated Pagoda is wrapped with yellow bands to commemorate the present king Bhumibol's rule for 60 years in 2006. He was born on Monday. Yellow, in Thailand, is considered the colour for Monday.
It seems like every Temple has its collection of cats & dogs...........
After a 20 minute drive I arrived at Wat Umong. Located in a grove Wat U-Mong (Tunnel Temple) is a practicing meditation temple. The origins of the temple, which are traced to the 14th century, are obscure. The temple may have been founded by King Mangrai himself to accommodate some forest monks from Sri Lanka.
I met a man and his nephew when I entered the Wat and enjoyed talking to him as we walked around the Wat. They were from Ban Luang in the province of Nan about 300 kilometers east of Chiang Mai in the mountains. He was even nice enough to invite me to stay at his home if I should visit Nan.
- Wat Umong is unique as it's built in the foothills of Suthep mountain and is still heavily forested.
But the most unique feature of the temple are the tunnels which give the wat its name (umong is the Thai word for "tunnel"). The temple and its tunnels were built in the late 14th century.
Naga on the stairs going up to the chedi. The Naga guard the chedi!
The main Chedi at the Wat...
Buddhadhasa Bhikkhu, one of Thailand's most celebrated 20th century monks. His statue stands on an islet in the lake to the south of the chedi. The Venerable favored the natural environment of the forest over human construction. As a result the modest temple buildings are surrounded by trees.
Around the entrance of the chedi there is an area that people bring artifacts and old small statues of buddha and other buddhist symbols.
Sunday must be laundry day! I guess "monks" don't have a problem in the morning deciding what to wear........
Buddhist can earn "merits" by releasing fish and turtles into temple lakes. The young man is on his way to feed the fish!
The monks are very friendly and always willing to talk to you so that they can improve their English!
After leaving Wat Umong I headed for the S.W. side of Chiang Mai to visit Wiang Kum Kam one of many fortified cities constructed by King Mengrai. Nearly 20 temple sites have been uncovered in the area, which lies between the Ping River and the Lamphun Highway, south of Mahidol Road. The buildings were buried under ground by years of flooding, which apparently is the reason Mengrai eventually moved his capital to Chiang Mai. .
Wat E-Kang (monkey wat) was still being excavated and restored. Wat E-Kang was once covered with sand, but only its pagoda emerged from the land. The temple has been named as E-Kang because many monkeys used to reside here. This excavated Pagoda is wrapped with yellow bands to commemorate the present king Bhumibol's rule for 60 years in 2006. He was born on Monday. Yellow, in Thailand, is considered the colour for Monday.
It seems like every Temple has its collection of cats & dogs...........
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